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New class - Jardin de Fleurs

Hi, my name is Sue and I live with my partner in a village in Derbyshire. I love all kinds of mixed media crafting and am never happier than when I'm elbow deep in paint ! I hope you enjoy your visit !

Thursday, 30 October 2014

Can you believe we're already on our 3rd challenge over at ATP Exchange ! What a fabulous challenge Ruth has set for us for the next 2 weeks too ! Here's what she has to say :

For our
next challenge I have a photo inspiration! When I was on holiday
recently I just had to take a picture of the texture on this wonderfully
rusty door on the harbour, so the theme this time is based on
Rust....use the lovely rusty colours of orange, brown, even reds or
maybe rusting techniques..rusting powder...embossing powders...or maybe
that wonderful knobbly, bobbly texture is inspiring? Interpret how you
like as long as we can see how you have been inspired.

I loved the bumpy texture of this photo and also the colours, I can almost see some blue and purple in there !

I started with one of the Collage MDF frames from ATP and gathered together lots of bits and pieces. I was intrigued by the Bead Gel that Ruth had used on a recent Exchange Day post which you can find here. Unfortunately, I didn't have any of the gel so searched around my craft room and found a small pot of tiny beads. I then spread some Golden Regular Gel (Matte) over the corners and sprinkled the tiny beads over it. I then carried on gluing all of the random pieces onto the frame.

Apologies, I got carried away and forgot to take photos as I went along ! I wanted to try and reproduce the rust colour, as much as possible. I started by painting everything with Stone Fresco Finish paint then moved on to Irish Cream but I added Satin Glaze to the paint to make it translucent. The next layer was Brown Shed and again I've mixed Satin Glaze into the paint to make it translucent. I then used French Roast but only in in certain areas.

Once the paint was dry I then mixed Pretty Peridot Luminarte paint with Love Struck which created a lovely rusty brown and I painted it over the top ove the Fresco Finish paint.

I then stamped around the edge of the frame and on the background space using a Tim Holtz stamp with Coffee Archival ink. I stamped the word Dream from the Tim Holtz Stuff to Say set onto some card that I'd blended Distress Ink over and then glued it to the back of a Tim Holtz Ornate Plate.

Here's a close up of the tiny beads stuck into the Golden Gel, I added some Periwinkle Luminarte Paint just on the corners.

I hope you get chance to join us for this challenge and do make sure you hop over to the ATP Exchange blog to check out the rest of the DT's fabulous projects !

Wednesday, 29 October 2014

I'm here today to share my DT piece for the Funkie side of the Frilly and Funkie team. Rebecca has challenged us to make a project where we are showing gratitude, as we don't celebrate Thanksgiving in the UK I've opted for a thank you card with a little gift.

Just to warn you now, you may need a cuppa this is quite a long post !

I started with the background for the card, and blended Peacock Feathers, Seedless Preserves and Dusty Concord Distress Inks over some white card. I purposely did some blocking on the top with Seedless Preserves, then flicked water over the ink.

I had a piece of card that I'd already used a Prima stencil with some Wendy Vecchi embossing paste. As my Spray Distress Stains haven't arrived yet, I decanted some Seedless Preserves and Peacock Feathers Distress Stains into two mister bottles and spritzed the card.

I then, very lightly, rubbed some White Fire Treasure Gold over the raised areas.

While having a sort out recently I came across some die cut felt which I quite liked but it was the wrong colour for this project. So, I dabbed it with Embossing Ink and then sprinkled it with Watering Can Embossing Powder. The EP was sucked into the felt as it melted and left a matt metallic finish.

I used Forget Me Not Archival ink and stamped the lace border from the Wendy Vecchi Say it with Art set on the background and used a white Sharpie pen to add some dots. I then spritzed some more Seedless Preserves Distress Stain along each side. The main image is from the same stamp set and is stamped onto a piece of card that I'd used to mop up the Seedless Preseves Distress Stain. I've stamped with black Archival ink and heat embossed with clear embossing powder. To make the image stand out I've used my Sharpie pen again and drawn around the image. I stamped the lace across the bottom and on the top 2 corners using Watering Can Archival ink. I then dabbed the edges onto the Embossing Ink and then into Watering Can Embossing Powder to create an embossed edge. I used the same technique for the sentiment, which is also from the Say it with Art set.

The dragonfly, button and little embellishment below the flower have all been pressed onto the Embossing Ink pad and then covered with Watering Can Embossing Powder.

The trio of pots started life as one of those strong cardboard tubes that photographs are posted in. I used a saw to cut 3 pieces of different heights. (Interestingly my other half didn't bat an eye when he heard sawing coming from my craft room!) I then sanded them to smooth off the edges.

I then used a Prima stencil which I held around the tube while I spread Wendy Vecchi's white embossing paste over it. I did this on all three tubes then painted them inside and out with acrylic paint.

I cut three lids and painted them first of all with acrylic paint, then mixed a little of the same colour with Wendy Vecchi's Crackle Texture Paste and left them to dry.

Once they had dried and cracked I edged them with Tissue Tape to neaten the edges. I then used black acrylic paint and some cut 'n' dry and dabbed it onto the metal embellishments for the lids.

The flowers for each lid were made using the Tim Holtz Jumbo Tattered Flower die and I cut a base for the pots from mount board and painted it with acrylic paint before gluing the pots into place.

Here's an aerial view, I've also edged the pots with Tissue Tape again to neaten them up.

I hope you've enjoyed today's projects, and made it to the end ! There's still time for you to join us for this challenge and do hop over to the Frilly and Funkie blog and check out the rest of the DT's fabulous projects.

Friday, 24 October 2014

Today is a sad day but also a celebration of my time on the eclectic Paperie DT. Kim has decided to close eP so that she can focus her time on her family, which also means the end of the eP blog. We have had a
fabulous run as members of the eclectic Paperie Design Team and wish to
thank you all for your interest and support over the years. With the eP
blog coming to a close at the end of the month, we all wanted to do
something special to celebrate the fabulous friendships, tons of
inspiration from other team members, from Kim, and from all those who
participated in our challenges. Each of the current DT members is taking
a day to post some of her favorite makes from her time on the eclectic
Paperie team. We hope you enjoy the look back.

I'm sharing this journey down memory lane on the eP blog today but also wanted to capture it here for posterity ! It's definitely
been a journey for me, stepping out of my comfort zone on more than one
occasion but learning from the experience too ! There's a couple of
'firsts' among my collection too !

I think this canvas
is my favourite project, the Donna Downey stamp is gorgeous and I can
so relate to having my eyes shut while chaos goes on all around ! It just leaves me
to say that I have thoroughly enjoyed my time on the eP team. A huge
thank you to Kim for seeking me out and to my team mates who have been a
pleasure to 'work' alongside. I've loved seeing all the fabulous
projects from everyone who has entered the eP challenges, and will no doubt see many of you in blogland !

Thursday, 16 October 2014

We've zoomed through another 2 weeks which means today is the start of the next challenge at Artist Trading Post Exchange. The lovely Annie is our host for this challenge and she has chosen Halloween ! So, time to get a little spooky with us !

I started with one of the candle jars from ATP and gave it a coat of the Art Basics Clear Gesso. Then I used Ginger Peach, Spiced Pumpkin and Pretty Peridot Luminarte paint mixed with Spiced Pumpkin to make a lovely brown shade.

I then stamped over the jar using the cobweb and spider from the Tim Holtz Halloween Cut outs stamps set using black Archival ink. I coloured the lid using Alcohol inks, Butterscotch, Terracotta and Ginger.

To make the base I drew around a cake tin onto some mount board and used a craft knife to cut the shape out, then painted it with Fresco Finish Little Black Dress. The roses have been made from almost black card using the Jumbo Tattered Floral die and I've rubbed some Embossing Ink over them and sprinkled Wendy Vecchi's Orange Blossom embossing powder over them. The leaves are die cut using the Tim Holtz Spring Greenery strip die and I've used Wendy Vecchi's Ferm Green embossing powder. The number 31 is die cut using the Tim Holtz Word Play die and the little charm is from ATP.

Here is the lantern in full glory ! I love the orange shade from the Luminarte paints !

I hope you get time to join us for some Halloween fun and do make sure you hop over to Artist Trading Post Exchange to check out the rest of the DT's fabulous projects !

Wednesday, 15 October 2014

Today is the start of the second week of the current Frilly and Funkie challenge which is being hosted by myself. I love the season of Autumn and every year I am amazed by the beautiful colours that surround us during these months. So, the challenge is to use these wonderful colours on your project, simple as that !

I decided on altering a dress form that I bought from a local garden centre. I painted the stand with Chocolate Pudding Fresco Finish paint and covered the body with torn up pieces of old book pages.

I then painted the body with differnt shades of green Fresco Finish paint. As leaves are a huge part of Autumn I decided to use them as the 'dress' for the body. I die cut lots of leaves using the Tim Holtz Jumbo Tattered Floral die from Kraft Glassine paper and then screwed them all up ! This gives them a wonderful veined appearance and also makes the surface uneven, perfect for rubbing Orange Blossom Archival ink over.

I then glued them in to place layering them from the waist down and gluing them the other way up around the front. I made the necklace from some Ideaolgy chain and attached different little charms and a leaf. The ribbon is seam binding that's been dyed using Ripe Persimmon Distress Stains and then sprayed with water so the colour varies.

Getting the right length for the necklace meant I had some chain left over at the back but rather than cut it off I left it the same length and attached a little shoe charm.

At the base I made a rose, again using the Jumbo Tattered Floral die, dying the card with Squeezed Lemon and Spiced Marmalade Distress Stains. I then edged the leaves with Vintage Photo Distress Ink. The flower has been nestled on top of 3 Kraft Glassine leaves.

There's still a week to go for the current challenge so I hope you find time to join us and do make sure you hop over to Frilly and Funkie and check out the rest of the DT's fabulous projects.

Thursday, 2 October 2014

Hello and welcome to a very exciting day today as it's the first ever challenge for Artist Trading Post Exchange ! I'm the host for this first challenge and I've made it nice and simple to begin with and have chosen Anything Mixed Media Goes !

We are a fortnightly, mixed media challenge and all projects are welcome as long as they follow this theme and include some stamping but no digis ! Artist Trading Post is our sponsor and there is a £10 voucher up for grabs to the winner, so no excuse for not getting your hands inky !

I've had this book box for ages now and have been changing my mind regularly as to what to make with it. Then an idea popped into my head and I was away ! I started by giving the whole thing a coat of Vanilla mixed with Nougat Fresco Finish paint so I had a neutral base to start from. I cut up a plastic place mat that I picked up from a discount shop and glued it to the box. Then I tore up some tissue paper and covered it with PVA glue and added it to the front and back. When it was dry I then started to paint !

Inside the box I've added a concertina file made from kraft card, a place to keep safe all of those treasured photos. It took a little working out to get the right size etc but I'm really pleased with the end result ! The paper on the front of the file is from the Lost and Found collection and I've added a couple of chit chat stickers,

I've used seam binding to hold the file closed when the box is shut which is secured behind it.

The panel on the opposite site is made using a technique that I have fallen in love with ! I started by brayering some kraft card with Fresco Finish paints. Then I randomlystamped over the paint and when it was all dry I used a Prima stencil and Golden Regular Gel Medium. Once the gel was dry I then brushed over the top with Vanilla Fresco Finish paint and wiped it back with a baby wipe. The sentiment is also from the Good Thoughts set and is stamped onto card brayered with Fresco Finish paint. I added two metal corners and mounted it onto more kraft card.

I hope you are able to join us for our first challenge ! Do make sure you hop over to the Artist Trading Post Exchange blog to check out the rest of the DT's fabulous projects !